Seam-filling shoe welt



March 16, 1948. w, pHlNNEY A I 2,438,095

SEAR-FILLING SHOE WELT Filfld July 18, 1946 Patented Mar. '16, 1948 SEAM-FILLING SHOE WELT William E. Phinney, Milton, N. H., assignor to Wright-Batchelder Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 18, 1946, Serial No. 684,502

1 Claim. 1

My present invention is a novel and improved seam-filling welt construction for use in the manufacture of welt boots and shoes; and an important object of the invention is to improve and perfect 'welts for such footwear.

Heretofore a serious difilculty in welt shoe construction has been that the inseam stitches were likely to show, particularly as the welt is bent downwardly in the beating out" operation.

Thus moisture would follow the stitch holes into the shoe.

To overcome these objections, various types of beaded welts have been tried but have proven to be unsatisfactory. Thus, in a typical type of prior welt, the bead was usually made at a substantial distance from the innermost edge of the welt which received the inseam stitching; and thereupon when the welt was beaten out or bent downwardly for the outsole stitching to unite the outer edge portion of the welt to the outsole, the entire welt structure and bead were bent away from the upper, frequently and in fact usually leaving a space between the upper and the bead, with the resultant grinning or exposure of the inseam stitching, the admission of moisture and water which might flow around the upper into the welt seam, and giving a highly objectionable appearance.

Other efiorts, comprising separate strips, have been applied to the welt seam for moistureproofness but such devices act to pry the welt and upper apart and were unduly expensive and objectionable,

Recently in the development of the type of beaded welt illustrated generally in U. S. Design Patent No. 141,974, dated August 7, 1945, and in my improved form of beaded welt such as illustrated in my pending design patent applications Ser. Nos. D. 128,418 and D. 128,419, filed April 9, 1946, I have discovered and developed a welt structure which will eliminate the difficulties heretofore present in any type of beaded welt and which will insure a bead or rib being drawn snugly and fitting firmly into the seam between the top of the upper and the welt, thus effectively constituting a seam-filling element, a moistureproof construction, and a substantial bracing bead between the adjacent portions of the welt and upper.

In carrying out my present inventions and with the objects above briefly outlined, I have devised a welt structure formed in a continuous length of stitch-retaining, permanently pliable, synthetic plastic material, such as Geon, Koroseal, Vinylite, or the like, with predetermined dimensions and contours for snugly fitting the lasted contour of the shoe upper in welt shoe constructlon, and which will provide both a utility improvement in the resultant shoe as well as in the appearance of the same.

As above noted, the design application is substantially illustrative of the drawing of the contour and dimensions of the present invention, and in my copending applications Ser, Nos. D. 128,418 and D. 128,419, wherein I have illustrated and claimed the improved shoe'construction resulting from the use of my present novel seamfilling welt incorporated therein.

In the present application I have elected to claim my novel welt structure, and in my corre- -sponding and copending application Ser. No.

684,501, filed July 18, 1946, I have claimed the improved boot or shoe construction having a seam-filling welt of the type herein disclosed and claimed.

Important and novel features of my present welt consist in providing predetermined and accurately straight, bevelled, and curved sections or faces on the inner edge portion of the welt and bead and which will insure snug fitting of the welt onto a lasted shoe bottom, whereby the inseam The contour of my type oiwelt in cross-section, I

formed of synthetic plastic and, therefore, of yielding material is preformed to eliminate the necessity of any beating-out process. Thus the contour of the upper-contacting edges of my welt, together with the location of the inseam groove in the welt as herein illustrated, insure the tight and snug fitting of the welt and head or bead against the lasted shoe bottom, eliminating any possible exposure or grinning" of the inseam stitches, and constituting a bracing bead between the upper and the body portion of the welt. In fact, my welt with the inner edge and bead so designed and constructed will cause the bead to be drawn so snugly and tightly into position during the inseaming operation as to be substantially unnoticeable in the resultant shoe, and will preserve the line and style of the shoe without disturbing or distorting the appearance.

Thus the benefit of a beaded welt is obtained without the objections of having the same appear as a heavy bead, which is the present practice and which is not desired in many lines of finer footwear. The utility of my present improved construction will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a fragmentary portion of my present improved welt; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view.

As shown in the drawings, a welt is made preferably' of synthetic plastic material' as above noted, and in continuous strips of uniform size, dimensions, strength, and stitch-retaining qualities, and of any suitable or desirable color to match the footwear with which the welt is intended to be utilized, comprising a body portion l extending horizontally; and a vertical section 2 at the inner angle between the portions I or 2 is provided with a stitch-retaining groove 3 in appropriate relationship to the horizontal and vertical sections. The inner edge portion of the vertical section 2 is so proportioned, constructed, and arranged as to cooperate with the lasted shoe and sewing rib portion to insure the tight fitting of the welt and rib, as above explained.

, For this purpose, I may provide a vertical section 5 which is, to a certain extent, a leverage surface to insure the tightness of the rest of the welt against the shoe when the inseam stitching is set thru the groove 3. Adjacent the vertical section 5 is a bevelled surface 6 which should be approximately at an angle of twenty-eight degrees, and may extend to the bottom of the section 2, thus eliminating the short vertical surface 5. The inseam stitching will penetrate the welt between the groove 3 and an indefinite line in this bevelled face 6, a reasonable range for the inseam stitching operation being thus provided when setting the inseam stitches.

Preferably the bevelled face 6 extends for a. substantial extent across the inner edge of the welt to the plane of the upper surface of the body portion I, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2, the top part of this bevelled face 6 being shown at the line 9, Fig. 1.

My novel form of the upstanding bead designated generally at I0 consists, preferably, in a concave face l2 and a convex back is forming a relatively low bead. I find that a suitable curve on the concave face l2 may be on a radius of "/64 of an inch. the rear or top and back curve being on a radius of of an inch, and the total height of the bead Ill above the plane of the body portion I approximately 1; of an inch, these being suitable proportions for standard types of footwear although they can, of course, be varied if desired. Thus it will be appreciated that my improved welt is provided with a seam-filling element, of suitable contour to fill, roll, or wedge in the seam between the welt and upper, to cover inseam stitches, to prevent "grinning," to deter 4 or stop the entrance of moisture. and to reinforce the Joint, all without aifecting the style and line of the shoe.

After the weltis stitched to the upper and insole by the inseam stitching, the lower portion of the vertical section 2 is, of course, trimmed to facilitate the application of the outsole. This lower portion, however, with the face I is important in insuring the proper drawing of the bead ll into tight engagement with the upper and insole during the inseam stitching and, hence, may be readily trimmed thereafter. The vertical face 5 with the size of welt illustrated, I find can be advantageously limited to approximately of an inch. or less.

It will thus be seen that I have devised a beaded type of welt peculiarly suited for being formed of synthetic plastic material with the resultant yield and pliability of such material, and in a welt which. does not require any bending down and beating-out operation, with the inner face scientifically designed and proportioned to insure snug fitting and which will also cooperate with the lasted shoe to hold and maintain the body portion I in horizontal position ready for the application of the outsole, and with the bead drawn snugly into seam-filling impressing position, all by the simple action of the inseam-stitching operation.

I claim:

A seam-filling welt of the kind described for use in the manufacture of welt boots and shoes, comprising a horizontal body portion and with an inner edge portion designed to fit a lasted shoe with a low seam-filling head, the inner edge being adapted to receive inseam stitching, with the body portion extending in horizontal relation with the shoe, said inner edge portion comprising a lower vertical surface, a slanting intermediate surface formed at an angle of approximately 28 with the vertical surface and extending toward and across the width of the body portion, in combination with the low seam-filling bead projecting from the slanting face in a concave radius and with a convex face extending from the body portion, whereby said bead will be drawn within the area of the feather edge of the insole in the shoe in which said welt is incorporated.

WILLIAM E. PHINNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,908,486 Peabody May 9, 1933 1,996,844 Vizard Apr. 9, 1935 2,153,321 Vizard Apr. 4, 1939 2,328,937 White Sept. 7, 1943 2,399,086 Wright Apr. 23, 1946 2,403,750 Quimet July 9, 1946 

